It was a bittersweet day for Blue Jays infielder Omar Vizquel, 45, who closed out his illustrious 24-year big league career in Wednesday night’s game.

The future Hall of Famer played his final game at his customary shortstop position in front of many former big-leaguers who were on hand to see his farewell, including Andres Galarraga, Carlos Baerga, Roberto Alomar and Luis Aparicio. Vizquel was lifted with one out remaining to a huge ovation.

Vizquel, who played in his 2,968th game and collected his 2,877th career hit (40th on the career list), was asked if it was a sad day for him.

“Of course it is,” he replied. “I would say that it’s sad. A lot of people tell me no, it should be the happiest day of your life.

“I believe it’s the other way around. It’s one of the saddest because I’m going to leave what I used to do all my life. Obviously I’ve been fortunate to have had a great career and people they say you should just have one of the happiest days of your life. But at the same time, it’s such a mix of emotion, you don’t really know how you’re going to take it.

“I wake up today, my legs were shaking, my heart was pumping 100 miles an hour. You don’t know if you really want to go to the ball park or stay home or what is going to be the reaction that your friends are going to have. What kind of support you’re going to get. So many things go through your mind. It’s just a really hard thing to express how I feel today.”

OMAR’S LIST

Vizquel was asked what he thought of the young players on the Jays and who stands out on his list.

“Mr. (Yunel) Escobar is already a veteran in the league but you always have to keep talking to him to get him to stay in the same direction,” Vizquel said, giving Escobar a gentle backhand slap.

“One of the players that surprised me the most is obviously (Adeiny) Hechavarria. He was in triple-A the whole year, got the call-up and he started playing a position that he wasn’t used to playing, third base. He was asked to play at second and he did a tremendous job for us. I think it was amazing to come and talk to him about different things around the infield.

“And obviously, Brett Lawrie, he’s one of those players that you only see once in a lifetime. He’s got a lot of talent and it was a pleasure working with him too.”